FATE\Deus Decipit

Chapter 76: The Olympians

11:54pm, The Alghul Villa

Aaron watched the house closely as they approached, scanning for signs of movement, or any other indication of what to expect, but found none. Warm light streamed through the windows, but whatever shapes lay beyond that wall of glass were obscured so completely that he may as well have been trying to look through asphalt.

He needed no explanation: magecraft was enough. In the world of mages, worrying about how something could be possible was often fruitless. There were always multiple paths to the same conclusion, and there was never any guarantee that doing the same things wouldn't yet garner a different result.

There was a reason mages often went insane.

Instead, it was better to focus on the 'why'. In this case, the reason was far clearer than the windows: Team Caster was determined to let off as little information as possible. This came as no surprise to him. In fact, he found the unobscured secrecy comforting, even inspiring. In there, the only thing which would be communicated clearly was that each of them had secrets they were unwilling to part with. There was no reason to act like he had nothing to hide, he needed to only obscure what secrets he held.

Rider's reassuring voice came like a friendly clap on the shoulder,

'Art thou prepared, mine Master?'

He cracked his knuckles, "Let's do this."

As the flying boat approached the balcony, it turned parallel, raised so that he stood just above the rail, and dropped a side panel across as a gangplank, allowing him to safely hop onto the metal deck. His mage's mind buzzed with the possibilities of wards, sensors, mines, and similar traps, but he forced himself to be calm: worrying about that was Rider's responsibility.

But his edge still caused him to flinch when the glass door slid open of its own accord, granting him his first glimpse inside the base of Caster and his Master. It was cozy, the kind of lodge one would rent for a family vacation- or the set of a horror movie. He was most immediately drawn to the center of the room where, atop a burgundy rug, were two couches with a table between them sandwiching an occupied armchair. There, with a cup in hand, was a beautiful, slender woman wearing a velvet suit and black tie.

Her violet eyes seemed to glow, but he couldn't tell whether it was malice or curiosity which lit them,

"Welcome, Master of Rider. Congratulations, you're the first to arrive."

He paused. For one, he felt underdressed: his dress pants and shoes with an untucked white shirt seemed slightly too casual compared to her, not to mention that his fuller, uncut hair left him more self-conscious than he otherwise would've been. This was only compounded by the woman herself, whose presentation caught him entirely off-guard, not in the least because she was a 'she', and likely about the same age as himself, no less...

He internally shook himself awake. Now was not the time to be distracted. He placed the blame on Cassandra and resumed the introductions.

"Right... Do I get a prize?"

She gave a single chuckle of approval and sipped her drink,

"Perhaps you've earned a few additional pleasantries. Please, sit."

She gestured to the couch on her right.

He approached as requested, and noted the platter on the center table. There were mugs there, and they radiated with a herbal aroma. Not trusting any aspect of this for even a second, he ignored them completely and plopped onto the sofa.

He looked around, "I don't see Caster. You're his Master, right?"

"That's right. Don't worry, he's around; just keeping things safe. I imagine Rider is doing much the same, isn't that right Mister...?"